“A Hell of a Whipping”

This chapter examines how Harold Gibbons and Ernest Calloway's ambitious plans were derailed by aggressive investigations of alleged union corruption in which the Teamsters became a primary target and Local 688 faced sharp public scrutiny. It begins with a discussion of the successful campaign launched by Gibbons and the Teamsters, in collaboration with Calloway and the NAACP, against the charter reform initiative in St. Louis that would have diluted the union movement's political power and circumscribed the St. Louis civil rights movement's growing influence. It then considers Jimmy Hoffa's disputed election as Teamsters president and how the union's increasing use of trusteeships rankled local Teamsters across the country and came under scrutiny from Congressional investigators. It also explores Gibbons and Calloway's failed attempt to rally support for the Powell Amendment, proposed by New York Congressman Adam Clayton Powell to bar unions from practicing racial discrimination.